Miss Parkes said: “I noticed that the baby wasn’t moving around as much as he had been and after spending all night awake worrying, I plucked up the courage to call my midwife, who advised that I should go into hospital to get checked out.

"My mum took me in and we found out that the baby had something called Amniotic Band Syndrome.

"I was taken straight to theatre and Lucas was delivered weighing a tiny 2lb 4oz.”

Amniotic Band Syndrome is a rare condition where strands of the protective sac separate and entangle digits, limbs or other parts of the foetus.

When Lucas was born, he had bands around some of his fingers, his toes and round his leg.

Surgeons were able to save his toes and leg by removing the bands and leaving behind just scarring, but two of his fingers couldn’t be saved.

He was also born with chronic lung disease, an eye disorder known as Retinopathy of Prematurity (RoP) and Hypospadias, which affects the development of the genitals.

Read More

More family stories

Lucas was born at City Hospital in Nottingham before being transferred to King’s Mill Hospital’s Neonatal Unit.

Miss Parkes said: “He was really tiny when he was born and it was a scary time with him having such a rare condition. I had never even heard of it.

“He spent the first two months of his life on a ventilator on the neonatal unit, had to be operated on to remove the bands from his limbs and he also had laser eye surgery to correct his vision at just a few months old.

"It’s such a lot for a tiny baby, but he really has been a little miracle.

“I definitely wasn’t prepared for him coming so soon. One minute I was enjoying pregnancy without any worry and the next Lucas was here. I hadn’t even collected his pram.”

Read More

Health and hospital news

After two months on the unit, against all odds Lucas was able to go home on Christmas Eve last year.

“It was hit and miss whether Lucas would be home for Christmas,” said Chloe.

“Some days he was doing well, but then other days he would take a few steps backwards.

"I really wanted him home for Christmas and the nurses did say he might be ready to go home in time, but I really didn’t want to get my hopes up and I just wanted the best for him.

“In the end we did manage to get home for Christmas, but it was quite late on Christmas Eve, so I hadn’t done any planning. My mum got him a couple of teddy bears as a present, but I spent the day just in the house in a daze trying to get used to having him at home.”

Lucas has now been at home for almost year and is thriving as well as starting to walk.

Miss Parkes said: “This Christmas is going to be extra special having Lucas at home properly.